Digital Entertainment

January 12, 2009

TVs Transform at 2009 CES

No longer a passive box that just displays moving pictures, television got a whole lot more interesting at this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. ...

January 11, 2009

Yahoo!'s Next Frontier: Internet TV

It's easy to lose sight of Yahoo!'s role as a Web pioneer, what with the company's recent management missteps, search-market share losses to Google (GOOG), and the ...

January 9, 2009

The Real Cost of Delaying Digital TV

The transition team for President-elect Barack Obama wants Congress to push back a planned changeover to digital television. The delay, Obama's team argues, would give...

January 8, 2009

A Digital Ad Blitz for Cable's Disney XD

Remember the good old days when companies launched a new cable channel or TV show with flashy billboards alongside the interstate? Well, the new place for promoting TV...

January 6, 2009

Lions Gate Swallows TV Guide

The hardest-charging media mogul in Hollywood these days may not be named Rupert, Jeff, or Bob. Instead, it may well be a 57-year-old TV veteran named Jon Feltheimer ...

December 23, 2008

Teardown of Sony's PlayStation 3

One of the great articles of faith in the consumer electronics industry might be stated thusly: "Time heals all costs." Basically it means that over time the parts ...

December 18, 2008

How Electronic Arts Lost Its Way

Expectations ran high almost two years ago, when John Riccitiello took the helm of video game maker Electronic Arts (ERTS). Formerly operations chief for EA, ...

December 12, 2008

Tech Trends to Expect in 2009

Don't be surprised if during the course of 2009 you opt for a bigger TV screen because you're playing more video games and going to the movies less often. You won't be...

December 12, 2008

Sirius XM's Dual Concerns: Debt, Delisting

Sirius XM (SIRI) is racing to get its financial house in order before a meeting with restive shareholders scheduled for Dec. 18. As chief executive officer of a ...

December 10, 2008

2008: The Year of Living Cheaply

It was mid-2008, and Americans were struggling to make mortgage payments and credit-card minimums. To top it off, gas prices were surging. No wonder many would-be ...

December 2, 2008

Why You Should Wait to Buy a Set-Top Box

Warning: This holiday season you will be tempted to purchase one of those set-top boxes that deliver movies directly to your TV set. You will be lured by the idea of ...

November 27, 2008

Audi: Putting Its Models in Movie Roles

These are rough times for car companies. Executives from Detroit's Big Three are getting grilled on Capitol Hill. Folks are ignoring new cars in droves, and TV ...

November 26, 2008

Broadcasters to Make TV Mobile

In a nation with more than 225 million mobile subscribers, only 1.8 million of them watch broadcast television on their cell phones, according to September data from ...

November 26, 2008

Denon's Blu-ray Player Is Too Expensive

The Consumer Electronics Association is predicting one of the hottest items for the holiday season will be Blu-ray players that can serve up high-definition movies for...

November 25, 2008

Plentitube: Your Agent for Online Video

In the age of YouTube, online video has opened a world of possibilities for artists like James and Tyler McFadden. Over the last two years, the duo has produced a ...

November 24, 2008

Network TV and the Web: Fox's Take

This has been the year TV networks finally embraced the Web. As 2008 wraps up, nearly every broadcaster posts its shows online within half a day of first airing them ...

November 17, 2008

Intel and Dell Launch Mass Animation on Facebook

Animation is getting democratized. After years of watching consumer-generated shorts sprout up on Google's (GOOG) YouTube, NewsCorp.'s (NWS) MySpace, and elsewhere, a ...

November 14, 2008

Twilight, the Movie: This Season's Harry Potter?

As a recent devotee of the HBO vampire show True Blood, I confess there is something morbidly appealing about the cousins of Dracula. And heaven knows I'm not the only...

November 12, 2008

Samsung's BD-P1500: Blu-ray, Priced Right

I was a Blu-ray holdout. First, I waited for ceasefire in the format wars; then I was put off by price and reports of technical hiccups. Sony (SNE) and its cohorts ...

November 11, 2008

Sirius-XM: A Long, Challenging Road Ahead

Mel Karmazin sounds an upbeat tone for a chief executive whose company, Sirius XM (SIRI), just announced an almost $5 billion loss. During a Nov. 10 conference call ...

November 7, 2008

SNL and Palin Take Online Video to the Next Level

It's all over but the inauguration. Barack Obama has swept to victory, and Sarah Palin can go back to moose hunting in Alaska. It was an election that broke all kinds ...

November 4, 2008

Apple: Soon to Be a Mobile Gaming Force

I didn't expect much from games on the iPhone. I had visions of casual games, perhaps a fancy take on solitaire or a version of poker that takes advantage of the ...

October 24, 2008

Sumner Redstone's Investments Face Mortal Kombat

It's sure no fun being Sumner Redstone these days. He's just filed for divorce from his wife of five years. The billionaire chairman of both Viacom (VIAB) and CBS ...

October 22, 2008

In Defense of Cable

With Apple's iTunes now offering HD programming from all four major broadcast networks, Netflix streaming shows from CBS, and Hulu letting you cherry-pick the best ...

October 14, 2008

DivX, Warner Bros. Sign Digital Distribution Deal

Tiny DivX (DIVX) is quietly beefing up what it hopes will become a formidable alternative to Apple's (AAPL) iTunes movie download service. San Diego' DivX, maker of ...